Rain, rain go away (Danny, AJ, open)

[stella]

Stella yawned and stared at her windshield. How dare it rain on her parade… Literally, it was pouring and Stella was not about to go and find a gas station in the rain. She hated the wet and the cold and didn’t have an umbrella. So she had to amuse herself in car until someone stopped by to help her. She turned her emerald gaze from the window and to her radio, leaning over and turning it on. She flipped through the channels and found (of course) nothing on.

Life is against me… She thought bitterly, glaring at the glowing button. She turned the radio off and grabbed her coat, feeling chilly. She wiggled into it, tied her vibrant red hair back, pulled her hood up and turned up the heat. Once done that she locked the doors and crawled in the back seat for a nap. Ritz barked at her and snuggled against her chest on the seat. She smiled and closed her eyes, scratching his head as she drifted off.

She awoke to Ritz going insane, barking madly. She opened one eye and saw someone outside her car. She rolled over and grabbed the white furball in her arms, pulling him against her. “Shut up you…” She murmured to the dog before placing him in shotgun. She crawled through the car and sat back in her driver’s seat, opening the window to see who was lurking outside her car. Through the rain she could see it was a guy.

” Hello?” She asked him, pushing her hood back, shaking her bangs out of her face.

[Deleted]

A.J. had never been a fan of Ohio - well, the demon who was possessing the body of A.J. hadn't. The real A.J. had family out there: a family that could be a giant pain in the ass with all their phonecalls and e-mails asking why he hadn't visited them in so long when he'd promised to do so.

The only reason the demon had been able to stay in this body relatively unnoticed for this long was that he'd been playing the part of his host and keeping up appearances with the guy's friends and family. So, he was in Ohio. He'd swiped a beat up red pick-up truck from a stripmall parking lot and was driving around, killing time before his obligatory visit. He was practicing being himself - or the self of the guy whose face he'd adopted. He was making a legitimate effort to seem human, and to pass himself off as this guy...

... which was why he stopped when he saw a car stalled out on the side of the road, the hazard lights flashing.

Normally, A.J. - the demon inside of A.J., that is - didn't care much about what happened to people, unless he could get something out of a situation or it was entertaining. But, the real A.J. was the kind of guy to stop and help someone out. The real A.J. was what you'd call a gentleman. He pulled the truck onto the side of the road behind the car, put the shifter into park, and shut off the ignition. It was pouring outside and he didn't have a jacket. He found a grey hooded sweatshirt that was too big for him wedged behind the seat and pulled it on.

I can't believe I'm doing this, A.J. thought bitterly. The last thing he felt like doing was getting soaked to the skin while playing the good sumeritan. But, it would be good practice.

A.J. got out of the truck and slammed the door shut, pulling the hood over his head as the water came down in a sheet. He jogged over to the driver's side, and as he did he heard a dog yapping inside and stopped.

Oh, great, he thought, rolling his eyes. The demon didn't care for most animals - mostly because they all served as effective alarm systems for humans if something evil was around. Or maybe they just didn't like him. Either way, they were a pain. He particularly hated dogs. As a human, he'd never liked them - he wasn't sure why, but he sensed that much. The first clear memory he'd gotten after roaming around topside in this body had been getting attacked by two hellhounds. That certainly didn't help.

A.J. gritted his teeth and continued toward the car. His host loved dogs, so he'd have to play nice. Maybe he and the mutt could come to an understanding. Don't bite me, and I won't snap your little neck, he thought. He could manipulate the emotions of humans if he tried and they were receptive to it, but he'd never tried it on an animal. There was a first time for everything.

He approached the front driver's side window, but didn't see anyone inside. He wiped a bit of dew off the outside of the window and took a closer look. He didn't see anyone in the front passenger seat either.

"Hello?"

A.J. looked to his right and saw the back window was open. He approached it and saw a pair of green eyes looking out at him and a shock of red hair. The dog yapped furiously - or as furiously as something that looks like a handful of cotton could be. A.J. smiled politely, like a normal human man would.

"Hello," he said, his tone friendly, his voice tainted with a thick southern accent. "Looks like you're havin' a bit of car trouble," he said.

[stella]

Stelle eyed the strangers curiously. He had a southern accent and was kinda cute in her opinion. Still Ritz didn’t seem to like the guy at all. He sat in the front seat as she’d told him to and finally stopped barking only to sit at growl. She’d never seen her little dog act like that before, he was usually really nice and loved strangers. Perhaps the guy had scared him or something… Or maybe he just didn’t like him. In any case Stella was at least polite, she gave him a friendly smile but was sort of judging him in her brain, she certainly didn’t trust a stranger but she figured she was pretty safe with her Dad’s gun under seat. Her protection was an arms length away.

“Well I kind of thought that was apparent by the fact I wasn’t moving,” She stated, her tone not mocking but it wasn’t overly nice either. It was the tone children used when they mocked their parents, so they wouldn’t get in trouble for being saucy. Maybe she was being rude but that was Stella, just a little too head strong for her own good.

“Yeah, I dpn’t know what’s wrong with it, it’s never just stopped like this before,” She told him, trying to sound more polite. After all, it wasn’t the best idea to be rude to someone who was helping her. She brushed her vibrant bangs out of her face again and sent a glare at her still growling dog. “Ritz! Knock it off,” She scolded. The dog stared at the stranger and lay down, making a moan-like growl. It wasn’t completely listening but Stella could accept it, at least he wasn’t snarling anymore.

“Sorry about him… He’s usually really nice, not sure what his problem is,” She said, turning back to the window with an apologetic smile. She sat up straighter and stuck her hand through the window, still curious and just a little wary. “I’m Stelle,”

[Deleted]

"Looks like you're havin' a bit of car trouble," A.J. had said.

The dog continued barking and the sound was irritating, making his ears begin to ring. Stupid dog, he thought, but he kept a friendly look on his face.

"Well I kind of thought that was apparent by the fact I wasn’t moving," the woman said.

Oh, really? I thought you just had your hazards going for the hell of it, he thought, fighting the urge to say it out loud.

She continued to say she didn't know what was wrong with the car. She yelled at the dog to stop snarling. It didn't stop altogether, but settled for growling rather than yapping. The growling was a bit more tolerable.

"He's usually really nice," the woman said. "Not sure what his problem is."

She said her name was Stelle.

A.J. smiled, doing his best to make it look like he was genuinely glad to meet her.

"Nice to meet you, Stelle. Name's A.J.," he said. "He's probably just tryin' to protect you," He nodded to the dog, still growling on the front seat. "Plus the storm's probably not helping. It's probably makin' him anxious."

He looked at the dog for a moment, trying to seem like he was studying it rather than focusing on it. "What breed is he?" he asked, as he tried to send what he hoped were calming thoughts to the dog. He doubted sending actual words would do much, so he just focused on trying to calm the thing down. He'd never tried to manipulate the emotions of an animal before, and he had no idea what the result would be.

"I'm not a mechanic or nothin', but if you pop the hood I can try my luck and see what I can do."

I can't believe I'm doing this, A.J. thought for the second time as the rain was already starting to seep through the heavy sweatshirt. He jogged around to the front of the car to examine the engine. He didn't know much about cars, but he did have a few powers that may or may not help the situation.

Once Stelle popped the hood, A.J. fiddled around with the engine. He had no idea what was actually wrong with the thing, but he tried fiddling with a few things, absorbing the heat from whatever might have over-heated - which backfired and only made it feel like his insides were on fire.

"Shit!" he muttered. He waited around for a few minutes for the burning feeling to subside before going back over to the driver's side to talk to the lady. He tried to put on a friendly face, but he managed more of a puzzled, slightly pained expression. He hoped it looked like he felt bad for not being able to fix the engine and not that he felt like someone had just pumped acid through his veins.

"Whatever it is that's goin' on under that hood, I don't think anything I do's gonna do a hell of a lot to fix it," he said with a shrug.

He wanted to walk away after that: head back to his borrowed truck and go about his business. But, A.J. the human host was a gentleman, and would never leave a lady stranded. He sighed slightly, trying to appear thoughtful.

"I thought I saw a gas station a few miles back. I could give you a ride in my truck if you want."

He wouldn't have been at all surprised if she declined. In fact, he kind of hoped she would. How was he supposed to hold up a conversation with this woman and her mutt while simultaneously trying not to let his demon side show? If that dog kept barking, there was only so much of that awful sound his ears could take.

[stella]

Stella waited as her hood was popped. She was genuinely surprised by such a quick appearance of help. Her watch told her she’d only been asleep for about fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t as if this rain would have encouraged people to stop. Yet this A.J. guy had stopped to help her, how nice of him. At the question of the breed of her dog she shrugged. "“he shelter said he’s a Schnauzer Poodle cross. He could be something else, they weren’t sure,” She answered. To her surprise Ritz actually stopped growling on his own and layed his head down, looking at A.J. with curiosity. His change in emotion was odd, but Stelle didn’t question it too much, maybe her dog was bi-polar. She nodded and popped her hood when he offered, she just hoped he didn’t screw her baby up more than it was.


Ritz seemed calmer after A.J. left to check out her car, she scratched his chin and peered through her window, trying to see what was happening. She couldn’t see anything but her car didn’t miraculously combust, which had to be a good sign. When he returned he looked puzzled almost pained. Stelle wondered if he’d hurt himself. She smirked a bit and raised a brow “My car bite you or something?” She asked, her tone teasing and slightly rude. Still the fact he couldn’t fix it was probably the cause of her rude remark, again she felt a bit guilty for taking out her tiredness and anger on the stranger that was helping her.

“A ride?” She asked after his offer. She bit her bottom lip, nervous. A.J. seemed nice and all but he was still a stranger to her in a State that wasn’t hers. Plus there was just something about him that made her wary, maybe it was Ritz’s behavior to him at first. In any case she was seriously considering telling him it was ok. But the fact her car was dead made her reconsider. She let out a light sigh and patted her dashboard affectionately. “A ride would be great A.J. and don’t worry about Ritz, he doesn’t shed and won’t piss in your car.” She assured him, scooping Ritz up in her arms and grabbing the keys from her ignition. She locked her car and slipped out into the rain to get into the truck, hating the rain with a passion

[Deleted]

Stelle told A.J. what breed she thought the dog was, but he didn't really listen, as he was focusing on calming the animal. It seemed to work. The dog stopped growling and lie down in the front seat.

Huh. So I can tame animals, A.J. thought. That was handy.

Stelle popped her hood and he tried to use one of his abilities to try to fix the engine. He could manipulate fire if there was a flame present, and he could absorb heat from things around him, which was nice when he visited cooler climates. But, there was no fire actually present in the area and when he tried to absorb the heat from the engine it backfired. The result was the demon-equivalent of an electrical shock.

"My car bite you or something?" Stelle asked when A.J. approached.

A.J. forced a smile he hoped looked good-natured. "Or something," he said.

He offered her a ride, which made her nervous. He didn't need to try very hard to get a good read on her emotions. She was irritated and nervous mostly, but not really intimidated or afraid.

She agreed to the ride after a moment of consideration, telling him the dog - whose name was Ritz - wouldn't piss in his car.

He smiled. "I'm not too worried about that," he said. Unable to help himself, he added. "It's not my car."

He knew that could sound a little creepy, especially since the woman was a bit wary of him to begin with. But, it could easily be explained and laughed off. Worst case scenario, she wouldn't go with him, and he wouldn't exactly have been broken up about it. Although he'd have to find something to occupy his time.

[stella]

Stella was very tempted to question A.J.'s comment about the car not being his. Was he borrowing it or did he steal it. Stella certainly didn't want to hop into a car with someone who was fleeing the law. That would hardly look good on her part. Still, who was to say he wasn't just borrowing it. Stella didn't want to jump to any conlusions about a guy she hardly knew... But if he was dangerous... It was a tough choice but she didn't want to just sit out in car until someone else drove by. A.J. wouldn't have offered her a ride if he was going to hurt her would he? Wouldn't he have just done it, it wasn't like there were a ton of people arrive and Ritz was hardly a pitbull.


"Oh... Well still, he won't wreck the car," She told him again. After all, she figured it was the least she could do, warn him if her dog was bad in cars. Then without any further ado she grabbed her duffle bag of nessessities (not sure how long she'd be gone), scooped her dog up and headed to his truck.

Once there she stood outside and waited for him to get in. It was only polite and she figured manners would get her farther than being rude. Still, it was rather irritating to stand in the rain with a wiggling dog in her arms.

[Deleted]

Stelle looked a little puzzled at his comment about the truck not being his and he did his best to hide a smirk as she grabbed her dog and her bag. She assured him the dog wouldn't wreck the car.

Lucky for him he won't, A.J. thought. It wasn't as if he went around slaughtering dogs, but he despised them more than any other living creature on the planet. It was a good thing for Ritz he was on his best behavior and that his little Jedi mind trick had worked.

He jogged over to the driver's side of the truck while Stelle waited with the squirming mutt on the passenger's side. He didn't know why she was waiting - the door was unlocked and everything. Maybe it was a courtesy thing. If that was the case it was wasted on him, and the way he saw it there was no need to wait around when there was water being dumped on everything outside.

He turned the key in the ignition and started the engine.

"All set?" he asked once she was inside.

((not sure what happened with my text color, but I usually use green anyway lol))

[stella]

Once A.J. got into his (or not his) truck Stelle opened the door. She put Ritz on the floor of the passenger side before climbing in herself. It was lovely to get out of the rain again, even if it was a little odd because she was in a stranger's car. She got Ritz to sit at her feet and he laid down, resting his chin on her foot. She smiled down at the dog then nodded in response to A.J.'s question. "Sure am, let's hit 'er," She replied, placing her duffle on her lap.

"So...erm A.J... Where you from?" She asked, trying to make polite conversation. Really she wasn't sure he'd want to just talk but she hated silence and felt really awkward just sitting there with someone. So she'd try and talk to him. If he made the hint that he didn't want to talk she'd shut her trap and focus herself to be quiet. However for now she would try and be polite.

(Kind of short... Sorry >.<)

[Deleted]

Once Stelle was inside and had gotten herself situated, she replied that she was ready and he turned the truck around and started driving back toward the gas station.

"So...erm...A.J... Where you from?" she asked a bit awkwardly.

Normally A.J. the demon wasn't much for smalltalk. He liked to talk to people who were interesting, or to people he could get some kind of entertainment from. But just randomly chatting with someone for no reason wasn't usually in the cards.

But, he wasn't himself today. He was his host. And, from what he gathered, his host was polite and didn't mind smalltalk. So he'd grit his teeth and get through it.

"Originally, Mississippi," he said. "Right now I kinda live all over. How 'bout you?"

[dannykeaton]

This town was small. More to the point, the only reason it probably existed at all was the major high-way not a mile away. However, according to what Danny knew, there was a diner attached to a service station, also conveniently across the street from a motel. Talk about everything a guy needed within walking distance. Since it would be dark soon, and the entire day had made the roads slick and annoying to traverse, Danny was more than willing to go a little bit out of his way to get some food, (the greasier the better) and a bed.

When his Kawasaki roared past a sign saying the town was only a couple of miles away, he grinned beneath his helmet. Of course, moment’s later fate threw a broken down car alongside the road. Though he didn’t really have any equipment to help, Danny still stopped to see if, at the very least, he could run a message. At the car, however, it became obvious that nobody was about. The rain intensified somewhat, so Danny, shrugging, quickly put his helmet back on as he left. His arm brushed against the side of the car, causing Danny to jerk to a stop. Images and auras quickly burst into his head. He got images of a girl, along with a dog. She resonated similar to him. A psychic, perhaps? Suddenly the images turned to a guy. He must have only been here briefly, as Danny couldn’t get anything near a good look.

The aura, however, was unmistakable. Danny pulled off his helmet to scan his surroundings.

“Demons. Why did it have to be demons?” He asked, to nobody in particular. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating. The demon’s aura still hung about faintly. Danny was tired, and beat. More to the point, he certainly wasn’t a hunter. To the best of his knowledge, though, there were none around. And if she was a psychic, he felt compelled to help. Grumbling, he put his helmet back on, kicked the Kawasaki’s kickstand up and continued down the road. He could follow the aura, at least for the moment.